Look back in forgiveness, forward in hope,
down in compassion and up with gratitude.
-Zig Ziglar
I was asked by a friend what I was expecting from my husband this year for Christmas. I honestly had not thought about it. I told her that I at my age, the gifts that I wanted could not be bought. I told her that it may sound like a cliché, but I do believe that two of the gifts that I was seeking for myself were compassion and gratitude. “Why gratitude and compassion?” she asked. I told her that these two desires were a subset of peace and love for ourselves and others. Today I want to discuss or show you how practicing gratitude and compassion can lead to peace and love.
Why gratitude?
Gratitude is a gift that I am seeking this year because gratitude magnifies the blessings in your life. Gratitude lets you see that you are blessed and brings you joy. It shows you that it could be worst but gratitude also gives you a sense of being supported. If you practice gratitude there is nothing you need, so anything extra is just a cherry on top! I feel that when I don’t focus on my blessings my pain and sorrow gets deeper. Without gratitude you only see the negative things in your life. If you exclude gratitude, you go through life feeling a sense of lack. People who have happy lives have this sense of completeness. They are never seeking for more, but the irony is that they attract more wonderful things to their lives. My goal for you this holiday season is to practice gratitude so that your future is full of joy, peace and love!
Why compassion?
You want love in your heart? Practice compassion for yourself and others. What do I mean by this you ask? When you have compassion for yourself, you love yourself. You do things for yourself that benefit the growth of your spirit. You never compromise your mission. You know you are valuable. With compassion you are able to love yourself and others because you have an open heart. If you have an open heart the energy of love you send out will reflect back to you in abundance. With compassion in your heart you get to feel the joy of helping others. You identify with others because we are interconnected we are one. With compassion you find love and peace in your soul.
If you struggle with compassion towards others this is a reminder of how to go about it in “Just Like Me.” steps:
Step 1: “Just like me, this person is seeking happiness in his/her life.”
Step 2: “Just like me, this person is trying to avoid suffering in his/her life.”
Step 3: “Just like me, this person has known sadness, loneliness and despair.”
Step 4: “Just like me, this person is seeking to fill his/her needs.”
Step 5: “Just like me, this person is learning about life.”
As I continue to reflect on why I will seek compassion and gratitude for my life, I concluded that the end result is peace and love. This is something that I also wish for you. This is the time of the year when we get to reflect on the past, look forward to the future but most of all stay present. When thinking about what I feel is a gift to our soul, compassion and gratitude came to mind. Compassion is the gift you give to others (and yourself) and gratitude is a gift you give to yourself.
Until next Monday! Wow! That will be my last blog for 2015. I have enjoyed hearing from some of you, it’s nice to see who resonates with my blog. Thank you! Looking forward to hearing from you. Remember contact me if at Nancysalmeron99@yahoo.com or www.believechangebecome.com so we can set up a time to chat. I want to hear about your dreams and goals for 2016!
Believe. Change. Become,
Nancy 🙂